Doobropekatiltg- mechanism



L. V. HOMAN.

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR.22, 1919.

1 3 1 5, 308 Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- ]517/ enior L. V. HOMAN.

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED APR.22. 1919. 1,315,308. Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Zap eILZOr' L fl owi aw fz orrazfyis LOUIS V.I-IOMAN, OF SOUTH DARTMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters lPatent.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

Application filed April 22, 1919. Serial No. 291,840.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS V. HOMAN, a citizen of the United States, residin at South Dartmouth, in the county of Brlstol and State of- Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Door-Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

. This invention relates to a door with which is connected a motor adapted to open and close the door, the motor being reversible so that it may move the door in either direction.

The invention is embodied in an improved door-operating mechanism which includes first, manually operated motor-starting means operable by an occupant of a vehicle in such manner, that when the vehicle is approaching the door, the occupant may start the motor in the direction required to open the door, and when the ve hicle is leaving the door, the occupant may start the motor inthe direction required to close the door, and secondly, automatic means operated bythe door to stop the motor when the door is fully opened and fully closed, the said manually operated means being preferably operable from opposite sides of the door, that is to say, both from the inside and outside of the building or compartment wall with which the door is connected. The invention is intended chiefly for garages, to enable a chaufl 'eur to cause the opening and closing of the door without leaving his seat.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view from the interior of a garage, looking toward the front wall and doorway thereof. M

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on "a plane intersecting the doorway, and looking toward the edge thereof, shown at the left in Fig. l.

Figs. 3. 4 and dare views similarto portions of Fig.1, Fig. 3 illustrating the connections between the motor and the door, while Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the manually operable motor starting means.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to portions of Fig. 1, showing the motor-controlling arm and the arm-operating lever hereinafter de scribed, in different positions.

Figs. 7 and 8 are fragmentary views illustrating the automatic action of the door in stopping the motor when the door reaches its open and closed positions.

The same reference characters indicate the same partsin all of the figures.

In the drawings, 12 represents the front wall of a building or compartment such as a garage, having a doorway 13. 14 represents a door adapted to open and close the doorway, the door being of the sliding type and provided with suitable hangers 15, the wheels of which are adapted to run one track 16, the door being suspended from the track. M

17 represents the casing, and 18 the shaft of a reversible motor, which maybe of any suitable character, the motor being preferably a reversing field electric motor of well known construction, and having a controlling member which is the arm 20 of a reversing switch, said arm projecting through a slot 19 in the casing. The motor is fixed to the building adjacent to one nd of the path of the door.

, Connections are provided between the switch arm 20 and the door 1 1, through which the motor is operable to open and close the door. As here shown, said connections comprise a pulley 21, which may be either fixed on or geared to the shaft 18, and a cable 22 wrapped around the pulley to engage the latter without slipping, and attached at one end to an eye 23 fixed to the rear portion of the door, and at its opposite .end toan eye 24 fixed to the forward portion of the door, the cable passing around a guide pulley 25, journaled in a fixed support near the doorway. The arrangement is such thatwhen the motor runs in one direction the door is opened. and when the motor runs in the opposite direction the door is closed.

Fulcrumed at 26 to a fixed support above the door way is a switch lever 27, which is connected by a rod 28 with the switch arm 20, and is adapted to move said member to either of the positions shown by full and dotted lines in Fig. 6. When the switch arm is in the dotted line position. the motor shaft runs in the direction required to close the door, and when the switch arm is in the full line position, the shaft runs in the direction required to open the door. I have provided means operable from a plurality of locations spaced from the door way for moving the switch arm 29 through the switch lever 27 to either of its operative positions, the preferred means being next described.

29 and 30 represent two oppositely acting pull cords, each attached to the lever 27.

The cord 29 is guided by pulleys 31, 3 2, 33

and 34, mounted on fixed supports, and its outer end portion depends from the pulley 34 and is provided with a handle 35. Said depending portion and handle constitute a normally operable terminal portion of the pull cord 29. The pulley 34 and the cord end having the handle 35 are spaced from the doorway'and located at one side of the passage thereto, the arrangement being such that the handle may be grasped by a chauffeur sitting .in a motor vehicle approaching the doorway, and pulled downward. This operation causes the cord 29 to move the lever 27 and switch arm 20 to the full line position shown by Fig. 6, and start the motor in the direction required to close the door. I

The cord 30 is guided by pulleys 37, 38 and 39, mounted on fixed supports, and its outer portion depends from the pulley 39 a and is provided with a handle 40. Said depending portion and handle constitute a manually operable terminal portion of the pull cord 30. r

The pulley 39 and the cord end having the handle 40 are spaced from the doorway and are located at the opposite side of the passage to the doorway, the arrangement being suchthat the handle 40 may be grasped by a chaufleur occupying his seat, and pulled downward. This operation causes the cord 30 to move the lever 27 and switch arm 20 to the dotted line position shown by Fig. 6, and start the motor in the direction required to open the door.

- The above-described pull cords and their guides are located within thebuilding and permit a chauffeur when his car is about to emerge from the doorway, to cause the opening of the door by pulling one of the said terminal portions, and when his car has just entered the building through the doorway, to cause the closing of the door by pulling the other terminal portion. a j

The pull cords 29 and 30 are provided 7 with branches 29 and 30 so that each cord is operable from either side of the wall and door; Thebranch 29 asses over guide pulleys 42 and 43, the pulley 42 being near an opening 44 in the wall 12 through which the branch 29 passes, and the pulley 43 being spaced outwardly from the wall 12 by an arm which is or may be a duplicate of the arm 48 hereinafter described. The depending end of the branch 29 is provided with a handle 35*. The branch 30 passes over guide pulleys 46 and 47 ,best shown by Fig.

2, and through an opening 49 in the wall 12,

the pulley 47 being spaced outwardly from the wall by a fixed arm 48 located over one handle 40 side of the passageway outside the door. A duplicate of this arm is located over the opposite side of the passageway and supports the pulley 43 above described. The depending end of the branch 30 is provided with a The arrangement of the handles 35 and 40 is such that these handles may be pulled by an occupant of a vehicle outside the doorway, the pulling'of the handle 35 producin the same efiect as the pulling of the handle 35, and the pulling of the handle 4O having the same effect as the pulling of the handle 40.

To automatically stop the motor when the door is fully opened and fully closed, I provide the door with two ears or projections 50 and 51, one which I call the outer projection being at the forward or outer edge portion, and the other, which I call the inner projection, being at the rear or inner edge portion of the door. The switch lever 27 projects downwardly beside the door between the projections 50 and 51. When the door reaches its open position the outer projection 50 strikes the lever 27 and moves it from the dotted line position shown by Fig. 6, to the position shown by Fig. 7 the lever moving the switch arm 20 to the neutral position shown by Figs. 1, 3, 4, and 5, thus stopping the motor. When the door reaches its closed position, the inner projection 51 strikes the lever 27 and moves 'it from the full line position shown by Fig. 6, to the position shown by Fig. 8, the lever agai moving the switch arm to its neutral position and stopping the motor.

It will be seen that the lever 27 constitutes an element, not only of the manually operable means for starting the motor, but also of the automatic means tor stopping the motor.

I claim:

. 1. In combination, a building having a vertical wall provided with a door way, a fixed track above the door way, a sliding door suspended from said track and having a pair of oppositely acting spaced apart outer and inner projections, one at the outer edge portion, and the other at the inner edge portion of the door, a reversible electric inotor fixed to the'building adjacent to one end of the path of the door, and provided with a switch arm adapted to occupy either of two operative positions and an intermediate neutral position, connections between the motor shaft and the door through which the motor is operable to open and close the door, a switch operating-lever fulerumed on said wall above the door way, and projecting downward beside the door between said projections, said lever being movable by the outer projection when the door approaches its open position, and by the inner projection when the door approaches its closed position, a rod connecting said lever with the switch arm, and means manually operable from a plurality of locations spaced from the door way for moving said switch arm through the switch lever to move the switch arm to either of its operative positions, the relative arrangement of the switch lever and door projections being such that the switch arm is moved to its neutral position by the outer projection when the door reaches its open position, and by the inner projection when the door reaches its closed position.

2. In combination, a building having a vertical wall provided with a door way, a fixed track above the door way, a sliding door suspended from said track, and having a pair of oppositely acting spaced apart outer and inner pro ections, one at the outer edge portion, and the other at the inner edge portion of the door, a reversible electric motor fixed to the building adjacent to one end of the path of the door, and provided with a reversing switch arm, adapted to occupy either of two operative positions and an intermediate neutral position, connections between the motor shaft and the door through which the motor is operable to open and close the door, a switch-operating lever fulcrumed on said wall above the door way, and projecting downward beside the door between said projections, said lever being movable by the outer projection when the door approaches its open position and by the inner projection when the door ap proaches its closed position, a rod connecting said lever with the switch arm, cord guides mounted on fixed supports, oppositely acting pull cords connected with the switch lever and movable on said guides, said cords having depending terminal portions spaced from the doorway, and arranged, the one at one side, and the other at the opposite side of the passage leading to the door way, the relative arrangement of the cords and switch lever being such that a pull on one of said cords moves the switch arm to one of its operative positions, and a ull on the other cord moves the switch arm to the other operative position, and the relative arrangement of the switch lever and the door projections being such that the switch arm is moved to its neutral position by the outer projection when the door reaches its open position, and by the inner projection when the door reaches its closed position.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

LOUIS V. HOMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

w Washington, D. G. 

